


Let Me Tell You A Story...

by TheDarkestDandelion



Series: The Daemon, the Soldier and a Stolen Bio-Weapon AU [23]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Acceptence, Baby Noctis Lucis Caelum, Bonding, But by now it isn't really spoilers, Episode Ardyn Prologue Spoilers, Family Fluff, Family History, Fluff, Gen, Good Ardyn Izunia, Hope, Love, Sleepy Noctis Lucis Caelum, Uncle Ardyn Izunia, mosnters, story time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 06:57:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21050207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkestDandelion/pseuds/TheDarkestDandelion
Summary: Ardyn finds Noctis wandering around the Citadel when he should be asleep.Ardyn puts the little Prince back to bed and tells him a story to help him drift off to sleep.





	Let Me Tell You A Story...

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something on Noctis and Ardyn so here you go.
> 
> And Ardyn is number 1 uncle ever!!
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)

Ardyn was lonely.

Cor had gone on a mission to Niflheim leaving him all alone in their house. All Ardyn wanted was his husband back which would be any day now. It was July and it was constantly sunny in Lucis, therefor the Marshal shouldn’t run into any trouble getting back as he no longer had to walk through 8 inches of snow. It was Cor Leonis though. No doubt he would come back with a surprise for him. But because Ardyn was lonely, he decided to move back into his old quarters in the Citadel until the Marshal returned. And because Cor wasn’t here, Ardyn wasn’t sleeping.

When Ardyn looked at the time, it was 6 o’clock in the morning. He shrugged his shoulders and decided to go for a walk. He was glad he did.

As he was walking through the ancient building that had house Kings for the past 2000 years he bumped into his youngest nephew wearing his bright blue PJ’s. Ardyn cocked his head to the sight and was mildly concerned that his 1 year old, 2 in a months’ time, nephew was out here on his own. At 6 o’clock in the morning! Regis and Aulea weren’t even up yet.

Ardyn cleared his throat to get the little boy’s attention. “What are you doing up, Noct?”

“Uncle Ardy.” Noctis’s face lit up with joy as he ran towards his uncle.

When he reached Ardyn, Noctis asked to be picked up, and because Noctis had nothing on his little feet Ardyn happily picked the child up.

“You should be in bed, not even your mum and dad are up yet.”

“Monsters.” Noctis said in a scared tone.

That was laughable. He was currently being held by one. All jokes aside, Noctis did look rather scared and relieved to see him.

Ardyn put on a smile and poked Noct’s nose. “Monsters? Where are these monsters, my lad?”

“Under my bed.”

“Well we can’t have that, can we? Let’s see if we can chase these monsters away.”

Ardyn carried Noctis back to his room. Once they were in the room, Ardyn put Noctis down, got a torch out of his armiger and shone it under the Prince’s bed. Ardyn checked Noct’s closet, the curtains, even Noct’s toybox to settle the child’s worries. 

“No monsters. I must have scared them away.” Ardyn laugh putting on a scary funny face to make Noctis laugh.

The Prince giggled at his uncle’s childish behaviour and got back into bed. Noctis loved Ardyn. He always made him feel safe and he was the perfect person for chasing the monsters away. I mean, his uncle Ardyn scared uncle Clarus. And Noctis didn’t think anything scared Clarus. So he was the perfect person for the job.

Ardyn tucked Noctis in and told him he should get more sleep before his nanny came to wake him up, but Noctis did not like sleeping without one thing.

In a sleepy and hopeful voice, Noctis asked. “Story?”

“What’s the magic word?” Ardyn teased, sitting down on the chair that either Regis or Aulea sat in to tell Noct a story.

“Please!” Noctis smiled.

“Good boy. What storybook would you like?”

Ardyn was ready to pull any book out his armiger for his nephew. (Who was secretly his favourite out of all of his many nephew’s and nieces) He had books about trolls, fairies, history, science, maths, poetry, anything and everything he had at his disposal but little Noctis didn’t want that.

Noct shook his head. “No. Make one up.”

“Ummm….”

Ardyn thought for a second. He loved making up tales and fables to entertain his family. During his time on Eos, he had written at least 200 books. Some of which Somnus burnt, others he would rather not share and some that would be perfect for little Noct to hear. But… Ardyn had a better idea in mind.

“Alright. But this is a special story. Only for your little ears to hear, got it? You can’t tell anyone else.” Ardyn gave Noctis a soft smile as the Prince hung onto his blanket and snuggled down in his bed.

“Yep.”

“Once upon a time, there was a nasty plague that turned people into monsters.”

“I don’t like this story.” Noct shook his head a little scared. He thought he had just gotten rid of the monsters.

“Don’t worry Noct it will get better I promise.” Ardyn laughed and continued to tell his story after Noct had relaxed. “This plague was nearly unstoppable but there was this dreamer who could heal the sick and stop people turning into monsters. All he wanted to do was help the people who got sick and protect his loved ones.”

“He sounds nice.” Noctis said with a little yawn.

The irony in that response made Ardyn want to throw his head back in laughter. But he contained himself and simply smiled.

“You have no idea. However, the dreamer was blinded by false hope and he did not understand the weight that this task had on him. Because of that, he didn’t realise that he was also turning into a monster. In comparison, his little brother, who also wanted to stop the plague, had another method. He thought if you burnt the disease no one else would get sick. I can’t deny he was right. And he saved many lives doing so. But because he was too focused on preventing anyone from turning into monsters… he too became blinded to what the dreamer was turning into.”

“Oh no… was the dreamer okay?” Noctis asked in a worried tone.

_You are too sweet_. Ardyn thought to himself. His tale was not over yet and even if it pained Ardyn to talk about he wanted Noctis to know what happened. How he felt about the situation they had all found themselves in. 

Ardyn ruffled Noct’s raven hair and shook his head at the Prince’s questions. “I am getting to it. Unfortunately, dear Noct. The dreamer wasn’t okay, but neither was his brother. They became so blinded by stopping the monsters that they failed to see what they were both turning into. They were both turning into shadows of their former selves and they hurt each other.”

Ardyn did not expect the Prince of Lucis to laugh at that.

He knew that Noctis had no idea that he was referring to himself and Somnus but ouch. Salt in the wound. By the King of Light no less. Ardyn shouldn’t really be complaining. He was the one who had decided to tell this story after all.

“That’s stupid. Why didn’t they just work together?” Noctis asked giggling.

“Because they are both very stubborn people.” Ardyn admitted before continuing. “However, as time past, they met many wonderful and caring people but that did not heal the brother’s relationship. Until one day, a little Prince was born who held both the traits the brother’s possessed. This little Prince could make people smile just like the dreamer had done in the past. And like the brother, he told people how to overcome things. Because of that, the dreamer and his brother started to heal. They started to understand that not everything was black and white, and that maybe they should stop being stubborn and realise what a blessing the little Prince was. Because in the end, it didn’t matter about the monsters or their motives. It was about family and the Prince helped them see that.”

Because that was what Noctis was to Ardyn. He was his blessing. Never mind the fucked up prophecy, Noctis made Ardyn smile and made him appreciate the time Ardyn had left with Cor. Noctis reminded Ardyn of his former self and how innocent and carefree he used to be. Because of that Ardyn was protective over Noct. By telling him this story of his and Somnus’s foolishness, it may guide Noctis as he grew older so hopefully, he did not make the same mistakes they had.

“Did they make up?” Noctis asked, practically half asleep.

“Not yet.” Ardyn shook his head. “Well not properly anyway.”

“They should.”

“They should. But now storytime is over, and you need to sleep.”

Noctis snuggled down in his bed covers and whispered at his uncle. “Night dreamer Ardy. I love you.”

“I love you too, little Prince.” Ardyn kissed his nephew on the head and said at the sleeping prince. “And thank you for being you.”

* * *

Later on that day Ardyn bumped into Somnus and was about to ask him if they could talk things over but he was denied that chance. Somnus had much more exciting news to tell him.

“Cor’s back in Insomnia.”

Ardyn’s heart skipped a beat and a massive smile spread across his face. “Whereabouts?”

“Don’t know. But Regis and Clarus are having him sent to the throne room when he gets to the Citadel.”

“Let’s go than, brother. I can not wait to see my husband!”

Ardyn was so overcome with joy. He was finally going to get to see Cor.

However, what no one knew was that Cor had indeed brought a surprise with him. In the form of a little stolen Niff child.


End file.
